July 4th, 2018, began as any other Independence Day, with the raising of my dad’s flag.

This 4th was different. I, along with my wife and 92-year-old mother attended a concert at the NMSU Music Center performed by The Mesilla Valley Concert Band.

After finding our seats, I scanned the nearly 100 artists poised to perform. Their ages ranged from youths in their 20s to white-haired seniors. They were not in tuxedos or gowns, but in casual dress. I anticipated some level of entertainment, but never expected the emotion that came over me as they performed.

I don’t remember the names or the chronology of the pieces played, but as they shared their genius of sound, tears came easily and I was transported through time. First, a scene of Independence Hall on a hot and humid Philadelphia day. Then, through battlefield scenes with musket and cannon fire. Next, the American flag is flying over a Baltimore harbor amid bursts of aerial explosions.

The music changed to a medley saluting all the branches of our Armed Services. Again my mind’s eye flashed scenes; helmeted men moving through trenches and jungles; my dad is adjusting a valve on the diesel engine he maintained aboard the USS Farquhar in the Pacific; my Uncle Frank is swimming under the surface that was ablaze after his ship, the USS California, was hit in Pearl Harbor. I see uniformed men in green, raising our flag on Iwo Jima and a sleek white ship with a diagonal orange band at the bow, bearing down on modern-day pirates. I see a merchant vessel listing after a Japanese torpedo attack.

Between the beautifully played pieces, I scanned the audience, and what I didn’t see was political division, but only proud and respectful Americans.

Dave Gallus,

Las Cruces

Predictions sent in before president’s trip

President Trump will again ask President Putin if he meddled in American elections. Putin will again deny it. Trump will reiterate that he believes him (to the dismay of the US Intelligence community).

Trump will not tell Russia to return the Crimea and other conquered lands to Ukraine or suffer extreme economic sanctions. Instead he will hail Putin as a great, honorable and trustworthy friend.

Trump will give up something tangible and important to U.S. strategy in return for some future promises from Russia. Throughout his trip,Trump will utter rhetoric that upsets US allies and/or NATO.

Trailing behind him will the newest and alarming backlash from North Korean leaders who are greatly offended that the US actually wants to enter and view the promised dismantling of nuclear rocket sites. Trump will again reassure us that his honorable friend Kim Jong-Un wouldn’t lie to the US president.

Trump will return to the US trumpeting his success and the importance of having a great relationship with Putin. All the usual suspects will align with the president, agreeing with Trump that he is the greatest president ever. And in private, but with customary leaks, White House staff and the defense and Intelligence communities reuse previous utterings like “idiot” and “moron” and perhaps adding a new word describing the president: “traitor”.